A Life that Could be Spent Together
by BorrowedButton
Summary: What will happen on Pete's Earth as Rose and the Doctor negotiate their new lives. Journey's End is our Doctor doppleganger and Rose's beginning.
1. The Doppleganger

I don't own any of it. Not the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS, the Tyler gang, Mickey, Norway...etc.

**A Life That Could Be Spent Together. **

"Doctor?" Rose said softly as she turned to look at the man holding her hand beside her. Her brow was furred with inquisitiveness, as if she didn't really believe what she was seeing. But her eyes shined with tears and a desperate hope.

Rose Tyler had just watched the Doctor, her Doctor disappear in his fantastic blue police call box of a TARDIS for the last time. The FINAL last time. This time there would be no burning-up of a dying star for one more goodbye. This was it.

"_Now, more than just time and space stands between us_," she thought as she watched the grey, green serf of the Northern Atlantic, off the Norwegian coast. They were forever a parallel dimension apart. Rose knew he would never try to come back for her, nor could she risk the inter-dimensional cannon again.

But here was this man beside her. He looked like her Doctor, he sounded like her Doctor, and he even smelled like her Doctor…Rose had witnessed so many remarkable and unfathomable things in her life, but how could this man beside her be her Doctor, when she just saw him leave her forever. Again.

Looking down at her hand, the one that was firmly clasped with the hand of this other Doctor, she saw his hand squeeze hers before her mind registered the feel of it.

"Rose Tyler." He says with both a smile and a sigh, "My brilliant Rose Tyler, please don't cry." His voice was soft as he said this while his hand moved to cup her cheek as he gently wiped away the tears that she hadn't realized were sliding down her face.

"But you left me! You left me again. How can you be here and leave me at the same time? Who are you? Are you him? Is he you? How can you be both, when you can't be both! You can't be both at the same time, it can't be real," She cries out, her voice tight with emotion.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispers into her hair, holding her tight to his chest. "Rose, it killed me to leave you, but I could only do it again this time because I knew that I still got to be with you."

"But, how can that be?"

"Rose, when my meta-crisis regeneration occurred I was grown from the hand that the Sycorax chopped off so many Christmases ago. Do you remember that Christmas?"

"Yeah" she nodded.

"I was a lucky bastard that I was still within the 15 hours of my regeneration cycle and so I was able to re-grow my hand."

"Your fightin' hand, yeah?" They shared a quick smile at the memory.

"That's right. This body, my new body, was grown from that hand just as that hand was grown from my old body."

"But you weren't within your regeneration cycle this time, how is it that…"

Cutting her off before she could finish this new Doctor continued, "I was though. That is I was, in a way. When that Dalek shot me, my body began to heal itself. It wasn't an immediate killing blow, but I would have died from the wound. Now Rose, stick with me on this because this next part is pure speculation."

"Speculation?"

"Well, granted my brilliant super genius brain is probably right in it's thinking, but as I have no real way to prove any of my theory's legitimacy… that and something like this as never happened before… it is therefore speculative."

"Whatever, go on." Rose ventured a grin and a good-natured roll of her eyes.

Giving her a quick lopsided smile before he continued. "The Dalek's shot didn't kill me but it could have. It was serious, but not instantly fatal. My body needed to heal, not so much to completely regenerate. So I was able to divert the excess regenerative energy into my once severed hand rather than finish the regenerative process."

"You can do that? Then why didn't you do that the first time you regenerated in front of me?"

"That was different, I couldn't help but die and regenerate that time. I truly am a lucky sort of man, as it was only because I had that severed hand that I was able to transfer the excess energy to it. If that hand weren't there, I would have had to finish the regeneration. A new, new me rather that the new, two me that made it possible along with the DoctorDonna of course, to defeat the Daleks and save not only the world, but every other world in every plane of existence. You see, when Donna touched my hand, it was enough of a spark to kick off the regenerative energy that was stored in my hand. As far as the energy was concerned, I was dead and all that remained was my hand. But as a regeneration it was incomplete, it couldn't fashion out a whole new body, but it could regenerate the original DNA source from the hand with the help of Donna's DNA filling in the missing gaps. Therefore I was reborn up to that point. From that moment of creation the Doctor was one, but in two similar bodies."

"Similar? Right, you said that you were human now?"

"No, not completely. I said that I have one heart and one lifetime that I could spend with you, if you wanted me to." He paused for a moment, and his voice sounded, for the first time to Rose's ears, timid, "do you want it?"

"Want what? For you to spend your one lifetime with me? Or your one heart?"

"Both."

Rose hesitated before saying, "I want to say yes."

"But…"

"But I…I'm going to need a moment to take all of this in. I, I…" Rose was starting to hyperventilate. She wanted so badly to believe that this was her Doctor and that everything was going to be perfect, but there was still so much to contend with. She didn't know if she could trust this new Doctor as much as she desperately wanted to. Also, what was it that the other Doctor had said? About him needing her and that was very him? She was supposed to fix this one? How was he broken?

"Rose, Rose, calm down love, there is no rush. We have time, ironically enough. Not all of the time in the world mind you, but enough time that we can catch our breath. Now breathe girly." The Doctor said as he pulled back from their tight embrace.

"Rose! Rose, dear!"

Rose and the Doctor turned to see Jackie running towards them. She was huffing and puffing the freezing air in and out of lungs, slowing down as she neared them. Rose realized that she had forgotten that her mother was there…and that Mickey wasn't.

"Mum, oh god Mum!" She cried as she landed into the embrace of her mother.

The Doctor stood back and watched the two women embrace. He had come to care for both of them, each in their own way. While it pained him, that he was the reason why they were so far from home, he could also take some solace in the comfort that at least they had had each other. They weren't alone, and for the first time in his new body, felt the dark shadow of the loneliness that had been his always-constant companion. He had hoped that with Rose he might have had a chance to escape that life for once, but now watching her as he was, he was unsure.

"I've called your father and he is sending a zeppelin for us but it won't get here until late morning tomorrow, so we might as well get some rest. Lets go, come on now. If I remember right, that little beach side B&B will be just behind those dunes over that way," she said putting an arm around Rose's shoulders. Turning to the Doctor she said, "lets go, you too Doctor."

Rose held out her hand to the Doctor, a silent offering. It was a beginning, which was appropriate because this was the beginning in so many a number of ways. Taking a step forward he reached out and took her hand in his.

_**END OF CHAPTER ONE. I'd like to write more for this story. I love Doctor Who and I would love to know what happens on Pete's Earth as Rose and the Doctor negotiate their new lives. Since that is a story that will probably never be told in cannon, it is up to the realm of fandom to come up with something. This is the beginning of the story that I would want to see. Anyone else? **_


	2. MetaCrisis of the Heart

**_I'm going upload crazy. This and the next two chapter were originally one. I split them for convenience and decided to give you all three rather then hold them back. Hope you enjoy it!_**

I don't own any of it. Not the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS, the Tyler gang, Mickey, Norway...etc.

The Doctor had been separated from his TARDIS before and each time it had happened he had felt an acute sort of pain between his two hearts. He was after all symbiotically linked to the ol' girl and she was just as much a part of him as he was apart of her. The new Doctor was loath to experience that separation yet again, but he knew it had been inevitable. There couldn't be two of him traveling time and space.

The Doctor was torn, figuratively, emotionally, and quite literally…physically. This had never happened before, this meta-crisis regeneration. The new Doctor found himself in a body that was both old and new. He even had a bit of Donna in him. _For better or worse_, he inwardly chuckled thinking that to himself as he lumbered through the sand with Rose's hand held tightly in his own.

They, that is, the Doctor, Rose and Jackie were walking over the rolling dunes of Dårlig Ulv Stranden, headed towards an old, cozy if not weather-beaten B&B. As he looked down he saw his hand entwined with Rose's. He could admit to himself that he had missed the sensation of holding her hand in his. Feeling her skin and the pulse of her blood as it flowed through the veins of her palm.

The Doctor had missed her so much. He had been so worried that he might have lost her forever, first at Canary Warf and then, a few minutes ago by the serf. He was scared that he might have lost her to himself… to his other self. He feared that she might not accept him, seeing him only as an imposter or a mere shadow of his former self.

As they neared the end of the worn in path that lead to the Inn, the Doctor's mind replayed the transaction that had taken place not more than ten minutes ago.

Just after his meta-regeneration, after his body had calmed down some, initially the meta-Doctor found that if he quieted his mind, he had a faint telepathic link to his other self. It felt comforting to have the presence of another Time Lord in his head, as it had been so long since he had, even if it was just himself. But on that beach, while he had listened to the other Doctor and the DoctorDonna explain that he was something new and couldn't be trusted out in the Universe traveling time and space, he had felt a hot unfurling of anger well up inside him.

He was about to say something more than, "You made me," when he caught the gaze of the other Doctor. Looking into his own eyes and engaging their fading telepathic link the Doctor Doppleganger saw himself as he truly was…

_I had committed genocide and I didn't even blink. How could I? Sure, it was more than the simple choice of them or me. I was fighting for the survival of everything. At the time I had felt both a righteous fury and a cool resolve. I had, with out doubt lived up to my Oncoming Storm moniker. Objectively, now that the danger had passed I could see why my other self would be so disappointed? Disgusted? Apprehensive? _

That quick telepathic exchange quieted him down good. He realized that in his tenth regeneration, he truly had become a wise and compassionate man. An old soul. Over the Doctor's long life he had suffered so much pain and loss that he had almost given up hope. Especially in his ninth body, but the people he had met…Rose, Donna, Martha, Sarah Jane, Jack and even Mickey, plus countless others, had taught him how to laugh again. How to care, how to love and move on, and most importantly he had learned how to cope with the ever-constant trails that went along with repeatedly saving the world and the Universe. It was the difference between feeling dragged into the fold, out of a sense of duty or happenstance verses walking into the battle with his head held high, because it was his choice to take the responsibly. Rose and so many others he had met on his travels had taught him to raise his head high, not out of a sense of being a 'higher being' but because he had learned how to be a good man. He had learned empathy, but being born in the blood of battle, he had forgotten the man he worked so hard to become.

_I had just killed off an entire race. Again. _

He did need Rose. He needed her to help him remind him of himself. He was the same Doctor, but his experience at the Medusa Cascade had changed him, aside from the second body. One Doctor would have tried to spare the Daleks and give them a chance. Where as the other Doctor played the role of the Lonely God, choosing to give them death. For a split second the meta-Doctor wondered if he was morally doomed? If being born of battle…if coming from the hand of the old doctor in battle fresh of his ninth regeneration, who was still so scarred from the Time War…and then being born in the literal heat of battle with the Daleks once more, might have taken away all of the life lessons he had learned in his tenth regeneration?

_Only with time and reflection will I truly discover what I am… who I am. I do need Rose._

Once again the meta-Doctor made brief eye contact with his double. Though he could feel their metal connection fading he trying to communicate how sorry he was.

"_It's ok,"_ the other Doctor's eyes seem to say, "_We're going to make this alright._"

"Alright then, Doctor for both of you," Rose said as she turned from Doctor to Doctor, "The last time we stood on this beach. On the worst day of my life. What was the last thing you said to me? Go on, say it."

"I said Rose Tyler," the original Doctor volleyed back.

"And how was that sentence going to end?" Rose said; her eyes filled with emotion. They held hope and fear and just a hint of a challenge.

After the slightest of pauses he countered with, "does it really need saying?"

The other Doctor could hear the pain in his voice and see the love and heartache in his double's eyes—in his own eyes. He could remember the shredding his heart took the first time he lost Rose. The first time they were on this beach he was going to say that he loved her. This time though he realized what his other self was doing. He was letting him step up and be the Doctor that Rose wanted.

A beat later Rose turned to the new Doctor, "And you Doctor? How was that sentence going to end?"

_This is my chance. I can give Rose the love that I could never give her before. I might be trapped here on Pete's Earth but I have never been so free to express how I really feel._

Walking up her he placed one hand a round her shoulders to draw her close. Leaning in he could smell her hair as the wind blew her soft blonde locks against his cheek. His lips hovered over her ear; his warm breath caressed her as he said, "Rose Tyler. I love you. I wanted so desperately to say that I love you."

In the blink of an eye her lips were on his and he felt home.

His body still felt the echo of her kiss, of her lips on his, though now the gritty, salty sand was chapping them as he walked through the wind.


	3. Checking Inn

**_I don't own any of it. Not the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS, the Tyler gang, Mickey, Norway...etc_**.

It had been awkward at check in. At the registration desk Rose had stepped up and assumed the role of leader to deal with the clerk.

"Hiya, we'll be needing rooms tonight. What do you have available?"

"Of course ma'm," the clerk said, "and how many rooms will you be needing?" He eyes flicked across the party of three. No doubt wondering what the sleeping arrangements would be. After all, it wasn't every day three wind-swept individuals came for a room sans luggage, and during the off-season no less. He hadn't heard a vehicle either.

"Oh, um…" she paused because she hadn't thought of that. _Did the Doctor want his own room? Did he want to share with her? Did she want to share with him? Would it be easier to just bunk with her mum?_

With a quick glance back to where her mum and the Doctor were standing. Her mum fishing through her pockets for something and the Doctor examining the photos that hung on the wall, she got the impression that they were actually watching her. So she turned back to say softly, "I think the two rooms would be best. Adjoining if at all possible."

Sliding her credit card on to the desk, the clerk couldn't help but notice that her last name was Tyler and that it had the Torchwood insignia. He was professional enough to keep in his gasp of surprise before saying, "Yes, that would be no problem whatsoever. However, we do have something a bit more upscale than that. Would you like to book the suite? It would be bigger than the two rooms combined and it has an excellent view of the sea and…"

"No, just the two rooms please," Rose interrupted as politely as she could let her voice sound.

With a curt nod of his head the clerk swiped her card. "Right then, please sign here," he said as he handed over her receipt and pointed to the signature line, "And here are your room keys."

Before Rose could take them, Jackie materialized on her right and snatched them up. "Lovely dear, and could you tell me if the kitchen is still open?"

"Of course ma'm. Currently we are serving a light tea until four o'clock and a dinner will be served from 6:30 until 8:00 pm."

"Ooh, that sounds wonderful," turning to Rose she said, "Rose, I think I am going to pop-up to the room and have a bath and maybe take a bit of a nap before dinner. Why don't you take this key here and my spare one and I'll meet you both in the dinning room a little after 6:30?"

"Yeah mum, that'll be fine."

Rose watched her mum turn around and head down the hall toward the room. She couldn't believe that her mother followed her into their old universe. Her mother could be so silly and yet she was one of the strongest women she knew.

With a sigh, Rose pivoted on her feet to go fetch the Doctor, when she realized that he had been right behind her. They were now face-to-face. Inches apart. She had been dreading this part. Being alone with him, as she didn't know yet what to say or how to say it.

Before she could stop the words from leaving her lips, they tumbled out, "I suppose that we have a conversation to finish"

"There is still no rush Rose," he said calmly.

"Mum's gone up to the room. She said she wanted a bath. I only got two rooms. I hope that's ok. I can bunk with mum if want to be alone; I don't mind really. And the rooms are connected so you'll be fine on your own, yeah?" She said in one breath.

_Why am I so nervous? He said that he loves me…words that I have wanted to hear from his lips and now that I have I don't know what to do._

"Well, I certainly don't want to bunk with Jackie," the Doctor said with his cheeky, lopsided grin.

"Oi! That's my mum you're talking about!"

And just like that they had found a semblance of their former rhythm.

"We don't have to make that decision now, Rose. You've got a key to both rooms and at the moment your mother is going to be in one of them. Rather than play 'What's Behind Door Number One' lets go for a walk around the Inn. Explore a bit until dinner."

"Kay," she said as she reached for his hand. It was effortless and automatic. Just like in the old days.

Reaching the threshold she cocked her head to him and asked, "Which way Doctor?"

While his heart skipped a beat as the word 'Doctor' fell from her pink lips, he didn't show it, "lets turn left. Left is good," he said with a knowing smile.

Smiling that smile that could always make the Doctor go a little bit weak in the knees, the one where her eyes would light up with mischief and her tongue would briefly curl up and catch up on her upper teeth, she said, "Yeah, turning left was the key to success before."

**_Author Note: I am trying to write in a third-person omnipotent style and I worry that the inner dialog of the characters isn't flowing or easy to decipher. How am I doing?_**


	4. New Earth Redux: Pete's World

**_This is a long chapter, which was actually a part of the last two chapters which was one big uber chapter. Aren't you glad that I chopped it into bite sized pieces?_**

**_I don't own any of it. Not the Doctor, Rose, the TARDIS, the Tyler gang, Mickey, Norway...etc._**

They walked along the path lined with swaying cattails and brush-grass that lead to the Inn's beachfront. They were silent as they reached the final slope of the sandy lane, each with their own thoughts filling their heads. They wandered over to a patch of soft looking sand where someone had once built a bon fire. A long and thick piece of sun-bleached driftwood made the perfect bench to sit on and watch the rolling tide.

Rather than sitting on it, the Doctor dropped Rose's hand and began to shrug off his blue, pinstriped jacket. She watched his fluid movements as he laid it flat on the gently slopping dune so that the log could be used as a headrest. It wasn't quite as large as his brown overcoat, but they were both able to settle down on top of it with the Doctor stretching his arm behind Rose to rest on the log. It gave them more room that way with the added bonus of forcing them to touch out of necessity.

_This is almost like reliving the time we went to New Earth_, Rose thought to herself. She let her eyes close and her mind relax as she listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline and the wind rustle through the grass to the thumping of the Doctor's solitary heartbeat. In that state she could almost smell the apple grass.

_She looks so peaceful_, thought the Doctor. He debated whether or not he should try to bend down and kiss her forehead. But he worried that any movement might break the spell of contentment that seemed to envelope them.

Before he could come to a decision, Rose opened her eyes and found her self getting lost in the warm, brown richness of the Doctor's eyes.

"About what happened on the beach earlier, Doctor…I"

"Yes?" he said. He could feel a lump rising in his throat and his heart sped up.

"I was confused and well, a whole lot of other emotions." Pausing to lick her lips she continued. "It reminded me of that scene in Beauty and the Beast where the Beast transformed back into a prince. And Belle, she was thrilled that her Beast was human. She was happy for him and so glad that he was alive and ok…but at the same time she felt it wasn't quite right. That it felt wrong somehow because her beast was gone. She was so used to her beast that the prince just felt wrong. Like he wasn't real."

She could see that her words pained him and it hurt her to see him feel that kind of pain, knowing that she was its source.

The Doctor felt a stabbing pain in this chest. Maybe he had lost Rose. He was more than willing, he was eager to spend the rest of his life with her…but he didn't want to force her. He didn't want to be her burden. There was so much he wanted to be for her, but he didn't know how. He didn't now how to show her that he was the "real" him because he still wasn't 100 percent positive that he was.

"Rose I am 'real'," he said. His voice was soft, almost a whisper but he knew he couldn't hide the sadness that was held within it.

Placing Rose's hand on top of his beating heart he continued, "I still have all of his memories, because they are mine too. Most importantly I still have all of our memories. I think like him because our minds are the same. They are built and wired the same way. I admit that starting now we will be different men, but that is only because he is out there and I get to be here with you. That is the only way he could do it. He's going to be ok, because he still gets to be with you through me. It gives him comfort and lets him be better because he know you are going to help me be better. We are a better man just for having known you Rose Tyler."

She had never heard his voice so tender and it was almost to overwhelming being directed at her. She could feel the heat of her blush creep over her cheeks and felt her tears well up in her eyes. She noticed that his eyes were filled with unshed tears too.

Rose couldn't take it anymore; she reached up to cup the side of his face, her pinky and index fingers gently tracing the length of his sideburns. The smell of him was enough to drive her to distraction, but she had to do this. She had to speak her mind. She had to make him understand that she was in this, but need a bit of time. They both did.

"I know that. But I still feel as though I have to say this. You know, strike while the iron is hot, yeah? Hear goes… I love you. Or rather I loved you." Seeing his face fall a bit at that she hastily blurted, "I mean that, I love the Doctor. After a while I found that I couldn't help it, you know?"

In a more calm and reasoned tone she continued, "I admit that I am having a hard time accepting that you and he are the same him. Not when I know that he is still somewhere out there. Not in our stars mind you, but still out there traveling. And knowing him, probably alone and that kills me a little bit in side. But then I see you and you ARE here and I find my mind and my heart saying two different things but wanting to believe in the same thing. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am open to the idea that you are the Doctor, that you are my Doctor." Pause. "I'm not rejecting you. I don't want you to think or feel that. I just… I'm afraid that I am still trapped in my personal desert.

"A desert?"

"This whole parallel world has been like a desert for me. Sure it's teeming with life if you know where to look for it, Mum found it in Pete. But for me, for me it has always felt barren. In my few years here I felt as if I have been wandering a desolate desert with my eyes playing tricks on me. There have been so many times when I thought I saw your face or heard your voice and it wasn't you. I wanted so badly to find you that I began to see you everywhere. You became a mirage to me, seemingly real from afar, but never truly there. A figment of my overactive imagination."

"Rose"

"No, please don't. Doctor…I don't want to make you sad. What I am trying to communicate here is that yes, it was hard for me. But…" reaching out she captured his hand in hers, bringing her other hand to rest over his heart. "I can feel this heart beat, and while you are a kind of Doctor Doppelganger, you have offered to be _my_ Doctor Doppelganger."

He chuckles in spite of himself.

"Then I feel like a right, selfish prick because I realize that since we've been here I have not even asked you once how you were fairing. Doctor, how are you?"

Shrugging his shoulders about to speak, when he was interrupted.

"And you had better not say fine, because as much as I have gone on about my problems I cannot even imagine what you have gone through. Arguably you have lost way more than I have. If I were in your shoes I think I might be minded to be furious."

A heavy silence settled between them. The wind has completely stopped and the air felt pregnant with tension.

"Rose I…" the Doctor stops to reach a hand behind his neck and rub it briefly while he tries to compose some kind of answer. "I feel a little lost. I feel the same and different at the same time. It's a weird thing Rose, have to get use to a new body that is at once foreign and limiting as it is familiar and at the same time…"

"And the same time, what Doctor?"

Rose's voice was soft and sincere. The Doctor could tell that she truly wanted to know and to help if she could. That was Rose Tyler to the core. A sweet and empathic young woman who always cared, it was as if she could see the good in anything. A real champion for others.

"I'm still a Time Lord. Well, part-Time Lord…ok, more like Time Lord-ish."

With a raised eyebrow Rose asked, "ish?"

"Well, yeah." He pauses, and then continues, "I still have all of my memories from my past 947 years. I still have my mind and it's just as good as it ever was. Ok, so maybe just a tad bit slower then it used to be, but still working at levels of genius far beyond the average. I've only got just the one heart, so admittedly I'm working off a different rhythm. Oh, and I think my senses of perception might not be as honed as they once were. For example I still might be able to taste what kind of lacquer was in rubbed into a wood, but I wouldn't be able to break it down into its individual compounds by taste alone."

Rose's mind flashed back to that time in Scotland where she witnessed the Doctor lick the door and discovered that it was lacquered with mistletoe.

"But I do swear Rose, that I am for the most part, the same man you traveled with all through time and space. This time round I'm just a bit more human, which might actually be good for me."

"Actually, yeah, but I know that you're going have a rough time of it"

"Oi! How so? How can you say that?" He could feel something cheeky going on under her mask of mock-seriousness.

She tried to keep a straight face, she really did, but she couldn't keep it sober as she said, "You'll have to learn how to stick around and clean up after your little messes you have a habit of making Doctor."

They both shared a laugh. It wasn't the kind of exuberant, carefree, and giddy laughs that they had shared in the past after narrowly escaping the wild dangers of their travels…but it was helping them get close to a new normal.

"I suppose we could do a check list? See how "you" you still are?"

"Brilliant. Shall you quiz me as we make are way to dinner?"

"Sure." She said as the Doctor helped Rose to her feet, collecting his jacket and placing it over his arm as they went.

"Ok then Doctor, please rate the following in order of your preference: Edible ball bearings, bananas, pears, and big, threatening, red buttons."

The Doctor let out a big laugh that made his eyes shine and crinkle with mirth. Rather than answering he spun Rose tight into his arms and looking down into her smiling face he said. "Rose Tyler, my Brilliant Rose, I love you."

And before she could get a word in edgewise to playfully scold him about losing points for delayed answers, the Doctor leaned his mouth down towards hers. Eyes catching hers briefly, his lips quirking to a hint of a smile before catching hers in a searing kiss.

Rose's toes curled as she realized that this was the first kind of proper kiss that the Doctor had ever initiated with her. She knew that they still had a lot to work to get through, but he had been right earlier that day. They had time and theirs was only beginning.

**_Author Note: I'm trying to stay in character, but I worry that I might not be doing the Doctor and Co. justice. _**

**_I would like to write more about Rose and the Doctor...but I don't know if I should write more about their stay at the B&B and THEN their journey to London and beyond or if I should just skip to the London and beyond part of this story. _**

**_I have a few ideas were I would like to take this story and these characters...but any advise or inspiration would be warmly welcome. _**

**_PS. How's my spelling and conventions?_**


	5. and so the heart beat goes on

**To anyone still interested in reading this story: It's been over a year since my last update and I am so sorry for that. I've been working on this story but have often found my creative wells dry. This chapter is the first part of what was originally a much longer chapter. Don't worry, the rest will be uploaded as its own complete chapter before the New Year. Thank You, random anonymous reader. I do this for you, but mostly for me. **

**Ps- I don't own any of this. Oh and if your from Norway, I don't mean to cause offense. I actually quite enjoy Rummegrot.**

Walking back up the sandy trail that lead to the inn, Rose hugged onto the Doctor's arm as she leaned her head onto his shoulder. The gentle thunder of the growing distant waves and their foot fall trudging through the sand, the only sounds between them. Unlike before, this was a comfortable silence. It was companionable.

With her eyes tracing the horizon, Rose realized that the once miserably hostile and gloomy shore of Dårlig Ulv Stranden didn't seem as menacing as it had done earlier. Walking back along cattail lined path; it was only with her Doctor's hand firmly grasped in hers the scenery seemed more beautiful and exhilarating than it had all of those years ago.

"So… Doctor, tell me about your other companions. I've met Donna, several times in fact, but I don't think she remembers it. And I was so happy to see that Jack was alive and well. How did that happen? How did he get off Platform Five?

"I told you Jack would land on his feet. He's doing great. He runs Torchwood now; out of Cardiff."

"And Donna?"

A shadow of grief passed behind the Doctor's eyes, too quick for Rose to really register it before answering "Oh yeah, Donna's brilliant. I think you'd have loved her. You've a lot in common actually, now that I think about it."

"How so?"

"Well," he paused for a quick moment, smiling at all of the memories he had of his fiery ginger companion before continuing with, "for starters, she was never hesitant about putting me in my place or pointing out my flaws."

The meta-Doctor shot Rose a quick, knowing look, which only sent her into a fit of giggles. He pretended to be annoyed with her, but the smile on his face gave him away. Rose saw his smile turn inward as he continued with his description of Donna.

"And she was so compassionate. At times she could be so loud, that it was hard to see her depth, but she… well, she saved my life in more ways than one.

"I met Donna dozens of times. She didn't always register my presence, but I liked her. Granted at the time I was more concerned with finding you. But in that parallel world where you died…"

Rose would never forget the pain she felt when she saw the Doctor's lifeless hand fall from under the sheet as his body was wheeled away from the river. The shock of it had left her numb. She gave a hard, involuntary shudder at the memory. She had searched endless universes for the Doctor, some of them fantastic and others terrifying, but none had scared her as much as finding a universe where the Doctor had died and she could do nothing to save him.

"Rose…"

The sound of his voice brought her back to reality. Though Rose stumbled over her words and she had to look somewhere just over the Doctor's shoulder, she compelled herself to finish.

"Where you died, I… I got to see Donna at her best, I think. She trusted me, even though she didn't understand me at all. She was so scared and brave and… brilliant." She said with a growing smile as she remembered Donna's final speech about dying in a worse world and waking up in a better one.

Two steps before they reached the door back into the inn, Rose stopped and turned to the Doctor, "You know Doctor, I think it might not be so bad a thing if she rubbed off on you a bit" She said absentmindedly before going through the door.

"Oi!" He said, pausing in the doorway for a brief moment, his lips quickly smirked in to a secret smile of acceptance.

As the pair made their way to the dinning room for dinner, they were stopped by the steward only to be told that Jackie had decided that what she really wanted was a good night's sleep; but to not let that stop them from enjoying a nice dinner on the Torchwood card.

An hour later, at little table for two, tucked between a silk potted plant and a bank of windows that overlooked the sun setting on the frozen serf, found the Meta-Doctor and Rose laughing over their dinner.

"Seriously, though Doctor," said Rose in-between gasping for air after laughing so hard, "Rommegrot can't be the worst thing you've ever eaten."

"It's just wrong Rose! It's a soup made from rotten potatoes and essentially soured cream and to top it off, it's served with butter and cinnamon-sugar!"

Rose sniggered into her napkin as she wiped her mouth clean of the bizarre Norwegian specialty. "It kinda reminds me of Protein One with just a dash of Three."

"You laugh Rose, but I ask you, how is this a dinner item. Sure maybe a small ladle as an aperitif or even better as a dessert… but as the main course?"

"This coming from the man who ate 13 picked Snorker Fish eyes because he liked the way they were filled with goo, yet still had a nice crunch; even if they did smell like Duran. It probably didn't help that the Rummegrot was garnished with sliced pears." Said Rose with a final laugh.

Perhaps it was the candle light flickering off Rose's soft features, or maybe it was just because it has been so long since the Doctor had heard her laugh so loud or smile for so long, but he couldn't tear his eyes off her. She was the picture of beauty and their playful dinner banter made his heart swell.

This was disconcerting for a brief second, as the Doctor had no physical memory of ever felling his heart swell like this back when he had two of them.

"So, Torchwood. Out of Cardiff?" Inquired Rose with a skeptical tone.

"Oi, what's wrong with Cardiff?"

"Nothing," Rose quickly responded, her eyes quickly shifting down and to the side.

"I thought you liked Cardiff? Didn't we have a good time there? We stopped a potential nuclear catastrophe. And that little restaurant had great chips!"

"Really, it's nothing!" replied a suddenly higher pitched Rose Tyler, before continuing in a lowered timber and with a coy smile, "It's just that, well… the unit at our Cardiff is just auxiliary support, and they're a bit nutty… Anyways, why base Torchwood out of Cardiff? It just seems so out of the way of everything."

"Because of the Rift."

Blank stare

"Rose you remember the Rift in time and space that runs through Cardiff. Christmas? Charles Dickens? Ghosts?"

"No, I remember. But didn't Gwyneth close the Rift with her death?"

"And then Bloorm Vungah Bart Slitheen tricked us into opening it again"

"But, wait… can Jack or somebody close it again?"

"It's not really a crack in time and space that can be controlled in that way. In the case of that particular Rift, I think it wants to be open."

"So Gwen's death was for nothing?"

"No, of course not! She didn't die in vain. With her sacrifice she was able to close the gap within the rift that the Gelph were manipulating; as well as take out all the Gelph that had made it into our world"

Looking down into her lap Rose whispered softly under her breath, "Not any more".

"What?" Said the Doctor. Though part of him regretted asking as soon as Rose looked up with unshed tears brimming in her eyes.

"That's not our world anymore Doctor. Everything is different here. Sure it all feels similar, but it's not the same. It's not…"

"It's not what Rose?"

Fighting the quiver in her voice she said, "It's not home."

Rose might have been determined to keep her self together, but the Doctor could still hear the pain and loneliness in her words. He realized that he might not be the only one that needs fixing. Not for the first time, he wondered just what Rose got up to in their time apart. His concern must have shown on his face because as quick as Rose's words had tumbled from her lips she tried to cover them up by continuing.

"No, Doctor. I'm sorry. I don't mean – I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm sorry. This world, this parallel world… I never tried to make it home. It's like... It's like… my mate Shreene's flat. Her flat had the same layout as ours did; back at the Powell Estate. But everything was flipped around. I was always lost in her apartment. Whenever I slept over I would open a door expecting to find the loo and every time it would be her parent's bedroom."

"Good ol' Shreene. I haven't heard that name in while."

Rose smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood. She appreciated the gesture. How many times had their conversations turned dark or sorrowful in the old days traveling and one of them would try to lighted up the conversation by bringing in a bit of humor. As easy as breathing, she decided to confess a secret she had been keeping from her mum and everyone else in her new world.

"I tried to look her up you know, in this world" said Rose, her gaze drifting out the window as she continued, "One day when I was lonely and desperate for a familiar face. For a familiar anything, really."

"Is she here? Or is she some kind of budgie in this universe?" The Doctor's tone was at once mirthful and inquisitive, as if he didn't know she was winding him up for a joke or not.

"No, honestly Doctor!" Rose's head whipped back from the window as she held the Doctors stare.

For a moment the Doctor thought she might actually be upset with him, until he saw the softening of her lips into a smile.

"She's here. We wouldn't have anything in common now", she said wistfully, "but she seems happy in this world." She paused only for a beat before adding, "Oh, and I'll have you know that that damn dog is the bane of my existence! It's such a spoiled and yippy little thing."

**Ok, so this chapter ends abruptly. It's been bugging me, but I've grown frustrated trying to transition from this scene to the next one. I don't want to get too dark to quick and I hate ending every chapter with a quirky sweet something. I'm operating without a beta so any feed back would be great. Once again thanks for reading. It won't be a another year next time. Meta-Time Lord's honor. **


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